Fire Department

Icehouse-Firestation

Firemen and Truck

Prior to 1900, and even up through the 1920s, Jeffersontown used what is known as a 'bucket brigade' to fight fires -- citizens holding buckets lined up from a nearby water source (such as a pond) to the location of the fire and passed buckets full of water down the line to try to douse the flames.

Fire extinguishers were available by the early 1900s, and in 1912, two fire engines that could be set on a wagon were purchased for the volunteer fire department through subscriptions from area residents. By 1921 Jeffersontown had a fire truck, and in 1925 an alarm siren was purchased for the town square. In 1926, a municipal building (with WWI guns mounted on the roof) was constructed to house the fire department and city hall at the corner of Watterson Trail and Taylorsville Road.

In the 1940s, a 500-gallon pumper was purchased, and a new station (where the Chamber of Commerce now stands) was built just west of the old one. Fire hydrants were available, and Jeffersontown residents living outside the 5-mile radius of the town square paid an average of $10 a year for service.